Daily News Male Athlete of the Year: Dan Barone

Thanks to a relative, Holliston High football coach Todd Kiley got a sneak preview of a kid that one day would take the Panthers to high places. “My nephew played Pop Warner,” says Kiley. “I went to all his games.” One of the boy’s teammates was Dan Barone. “That’s when I first not...

Thanks to a relative, Holliston High football coach Todd Kiley got a sneak preview of a kid that one day would take the Panthers to high places. “My nephew played Pop Warner,” says Kiley. “I went to all his games.” One of the boy’s teammates was Dan Barone. “That’s when I first noticed him.”

Although Kiley liked the way Barone played — “He was a great teammate, a great leader.” — he couldn’t have known what Barone would mean down the road to Holliston.

The more Pop Warner games Kiley saw, the more Barone made an impression. “He was on my radar for quite some time. I couldn’t wait to get my hands on him.” By the time Barone was a freshman, “I went back and forth on whether I should keep him on the varsity. I thought it was in his best interests and the team’s to keep him on the freshmen.”

It allowed Barone to play half of freshmen and JV games. He was a fast learner. By his sophomore year, Barone was ready to take the Tri-Valley League by storm. He became a three-time all-star. The Panthers went to three Super Bowls. Barone also excelled at his first love, basketball, and ran track.

He captained all three teams.

“He’s like a modern day Jim Thorpe,” says Kiley.

And really, when you talk to his teammates, coaches and family, that’s not even half of what makes Dan Barone, all 5-foot-9, 155 pounds of him, special.

Off the field, “he’s the model player we want representing our program,” says Kiley. “He manages to keep his GPA up and goes out to do community service. If you need volunteers for something, youth camps, Holliston Day, Dan would be at the top of the list.”

Twice, under the aegis of Holliston’s St. Mary’s Church Barone traveled to Mississippi and helped rebuild Katrina-ravaged homes.

“Each time I went down there, I got a little more mature,” says Barone. “I learned there are worse things than losing a Super Bowl or a basketball game.”

Barone was one of the athletes honored by The Eastern Mass. Chapter of the National Football Foundation, which factors in the student-athlete’s completeness, from athletic field accomplishments to classroom and community work. Doug Flutie is a past recipient.

Naturally, Barone’s resume caught this newspaper’s eye, and salutes him as the 2012 Daily News Male Athlete of the Year.

Last season Barone switched from wide receiver to quarterback. He rushed for 1,400 yards and 19 touchdowns, and threw for over 1,800 and 14 TDs. He won the league MVP award. Barone also played defense and handled all the kicking for the Panthers. “He’s a phenomenal athlete,” says Kiley. “He makes his coaches look real good.”

Page 2 of 4 - In the December Division 3 semifinal playoff game in Lowell, Holliston faced unbeaten and heavily favored Concord-Carlisle. “David against Goliath,” says Kiley. “They had some Division I (college) recruits. They were yelling, ‘Where’s your varsity team?’ ”

The Panthers made a game of it. “Dan never gave up,” says Kiley. Barone scrambled for a late touchdown to make it a four-point game. His onside kick was recovered by Concord-Carlisle, and Barone’s high school football career was over. His effort that day, says Kiley, “is kind of a microcosm of what he meant to the team for four years.”

Although Barone had prepped at quarterback as a freshman, he was switched to wide receiver as a sophomore. “Coach Kiley asked me during the summer, ‘Can you throw the ball?’ I said, ‘Oh yeah, I can throw it pretty well.’ But I wasn’t surprised I didn’t play quarterback.”

The Panthers had the sensational Sean Mayo calling signals for three years. Barone just wanted to be on the field. And he always was, playing safety on defense.

“My goal was to play varsity as a sophomore. It was a new speed of football I’d never seen before.”

He was a quick study. The Panthers made it to the Super Bowl, losing to Austin Prep at Gillette Stadium. The defeat was tough, the venue sublime. “That was pretty cool,” he says.

Holliston went back to the Super Bowl in Barone’s junior year, beating Cardinal Spellman. Barone missed it, and the previous playoff game too. He suffered a concussion in the Thanksgiving game against Westwood. “I was returning a kick and my head whip-lashed into the ground (after the tackle).” He stayed in the game, but not for long. “A couple of plays later I got hit playing defense. I was done. It was pretty painful watching my teammates play, especially the seniors.”

He wanted to be on the field with them.

Holliston would move on to face Rockland in a playoff game. “I tried really hard to get back,” says Barone. “I ran some routes in practice and felt fine. When I got home I had nausea and a headache.” There would be no postseason for him.

In the Barone Era, the Panthers went 32-4.

Barone’s exploits on the track also stood out. “He was undefeated in the TVL in the 100 and 200,” says coach Jo Kilcher. Barone also did the long jump. “In the league meet he took two firsts (100, 200) and a second in the long jump, and scored 28 points,” says Kilcher. “That was more than four of the schools’ total points.”

Barone only competed in track his junior and senior year.

“You could see he was an athlete in every sense of the word,” says Kilcher. “He had a gift, but he never took it for granted.”

Page 3 of 4 - Barone explains, “I wasn’t doing anything in the spring except lifting weights. I thought it’d be a good idea to go out for track and work on my speed.”

Kilcher is Holliston’s indoor and outdoor track coach, but this was her first season coaching the boys outdoor team. “If we needed anything from Dan, he’d do it,” she says. “Kids look up to him. They want to emulate him. After practice he’d go lift weights.”

Barone has an older brother, Chris, who lettered twice in golf at Marquette, and a younger brother, Brian, who will be a senior at Holliston and succeed Dan as basketball captain.

The two younger brothers went at each other in driveway hoops. “I used to pummel him back in the day,” says Dan. “He gives me more of a run for my money now. I still win, but the games are closer.”

Mike and Nicole Barone look at the sibling rivalry with bemusement, and from a distance. “Each one thinks he’s the best. We stay out of it,” says Mike.

Dan played guard on the Panthers’ basketball team. As a sophomore he split his time between the varsity and JV. “In his junior year he made a significant jump,” says coach Dan Santos.

Barone averaged double figures for his last two years. “He was more offensive-minded at first,” says Santos, “but his defense got better. He was one of the shortest on the team, but he’d mix it up for rebounds.”

The Panthers won just four games last season, but Barone played like every game was for the league title. “We were knocked out of tourney hopes fast, but Dan didn’t slow down. He was invested in the game all the time,” says Santos. “He’s the type of kid whose true colors come out when the pressure is on. If we need two free throws with two seconds left, he’s the kid I want at the line. He wants the ball in his hands. We know he’s going to rise to the occasion.” Barone was a three-year all-star in hoops too.

Mike Barone admits he and his wife were surprised when Dan came home one day and announced “I want to play football instead of soccer. We were a little hesitant as parents. But he took a liking to it right away. He was average size, but he had talent.”

Barone is working at Ashland Lumber before he ships off to Bowdoin College, where he plans on playing football. He also considered Amherst and Division I schools Brown and Holy Cross. His lack of size played into the decision making.

His mind occasionally takes him back to Mississippi, the destruction he saw, the grieving, but also the no-quit spirit of the hurricane victims. The young people who had come from distant area codes to offer a helping hand would go to Sonic for a fast-food lunch. “The people would buy us a meal, and money was not in abundance,” says Barone. “They were just so grateful that we were there. Making their lives a little better was one of the best experiences of my life.”